Neighbourhood Plan – Vowchurch GPC

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT

GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

Neighbourhood

Development Plan

2011 to 2031

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

Looking ahead to 2031, we wish

to preserve the beautiful and

essentially rural character of the

area, whilst accommodating housing

developments that enable more

families to live in the area, including

within the existing settlements.

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

People in the five parishes (Michaelchurch Escley, Newton,

St Margaret’s, Turnastone, and Vowchurch), together with the

Parish Council which serves them, welcome the opportunity to

develop planning policies that support our communities and

protect the area in which we live. The vision we have developed

reects two broad and mutually supportive aspirations. One is

to protect and where possible enhance the local environment, since

the parishes lie in an area of great natural beauty. The other is to

enhance the lives of people in our communities by encouraging

the provision of appropriate new housing for families and by

encouraging the development of small businesses which increase

the number of jobs available locally.

Our Vision

The work we have done has enabled us to develop and agree a

view about how we wish to see the area develop over the next few

years and to agree some objectives for what we want to achieve.

Looking ahead to 2031, we wish to preserve the beautiful and

essentially rural character of the area, whilst accommodating

housing developments that enable more families to live in the

area, including within the existing settlements.

✓Objective 1 – to meet local housing needs through the

provision of additional and affordable homes to meet the

needs of the community;

✓Objective 2 – to ensure that any new development is designed

to complement the character of the existing settlements and the

wider environment;

✓Objective 3 – by enabling more families to live in the area to

support local businesses, particularly farming, and support local

services, not least by maintaining local schools.

Introduction

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

Characteristics of the local area

The ve parishes lie about 10 miles to the south west

of Hereford, the nearest large urban area, and broadly

the same distance south east of Hay on Wye, the

nearest market town. Michaelchurch Escley, lies within

a few miles of the border with Wales which runs along

the eastern edge of the Black Mountains. The area

is about 7 miles from the nearest A road, the A465

between Hereford and Abergavenny.

The population of the parishes is about 600 within an

area that measures very roughly 5 miles east to west

and 4 miles north to south.

The five parish areas are wholly rural, with small

clusters of houses near to the churches and otherwise

highly dispersed dwellings. Most people in the ve

parishes live in houses with a high degree of physical

separation from their neighbours. This reects the

fact that historically the area supported mainly small

family farms which provided an occupation for a high

proportion of local people. The dispersed nature of the

settlements means that there is a complex network of

very small, narrow roads.

The parishes are in the Golden Valley, an area of

considerable natural beauty. National and local policies

recognise the need to protect local environments

by limiting development in open countryside. This is

not inconsistent with a small amount of development

which permits the evolution of areas to meet the needs

of local communities.

The two villages which are the main focus of proportionate

development in Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy,

Michaelchurch Escley and Vowchurch, are surrounded by

agricultural land. They contain less than 15 homes each at

present. Apart from a public house in Michaelchurch and

a small garage workshop in Vowchurch, neither village

centre has any amenities for local people.

Lower Maes-coed consists of a small scattering of houses

in the south of Newton parish with no local amenities.

Against this background, the scope for new development

will be determined by the wholly rural characteristics of

the area. As in the past, most future developments will be

isolated, single developments such as barn conversions.

But there is certainly also some scope for developments

within the two villages and in Lower Maes-coed.

National legislation

National legislation makes it possible for town and

parish councils to lead the local development of

plans for how an area should develop in the future.

This legislation sets out the basis for how such work

is to be done. It also makes it quite clear that any

neighbourhood plans must be consistent with both

national and local authority planning frameworks. In our

case this is Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy and in

particular the section which deals with the rural areas.

Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy

The Core Strategy sets out targets for new housing in

the county as a whole, making a distinction between

what is likely to be built in the city, in the major towns

and in the rural areas.

For Herefordshire’s rural areas, the Core Strategy

identies a number of settlements within several distinct

geographical areas as being “the primary focus for (new)

housing” which will meet housing needs and support

the regeneration of the rural economy.

In the Golden Valley, the Core Strategy identies two

settlements in our parishes with the potential “for

sensitive and appropriate housing growth.” These

settlements are Michaelchurch Escley and Vowchurch.

New developments here should be “within or adjacent

to the main built up areas” and support and enhance

Background

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

Vowchurch and District Group Parish and the Neighbourhood Plan area

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

the character of these local settlements. Development will be permitted which is

“proportionate to the size of the community and its needs..”

The Core Strategy also identies Lower Maes-coed as a community in which some new

housing development can take place. Here any such new housing should “respect the scale,

form, layout, character and setting of the (existing) settlement” - recognising that such small

settlements often do not have a village centre. New housing proposals will need to respect

the existing settlement pattern and can meet identied local housing needs.

The Core Strategy is based on an expectation about the numbers of new homes that will

be built in rural areas up to 2031. These are homes that will be built in parishes as a whole,

not only within the settlements. This growth will be made up of:

• the homes that are built in line with existing planning guidelines, including

barn conversions;

• homes built in open countryside that meet planning criteria, such as buildings linked

to businesses;

• development within the settlements which is covered by this plan.

The Core Strategy expectation is that about 28 homes will be built in our ve parish areas by

2031. By way of comparison, over the previous planning period from 1996 to 2011, 34 new

developments were completed. The majority of these developments were for single units,

either replacements or conversions, that is, they were small scale and in keeping with the

characteristics of the area. There is no reason to think that this pattern of developments will

not continue in the current planning period, with numbers of one off dwellings.

In the period covered by the Core Strategy, that is, from 2011, a number of new developments

have already been put in train in the ve parish areas, both replacements of existing homes

and developments of new homes. This suggests that the level of growth in housing for the

area within the Core Strategy up to 2031, is likely to be comparable with that which occurred

during the period from 1996 to 2011. There are likely to be a signicant number of individual

conversions in the wider area. These will be complemented by the developments which this

neighbourhood plan supports within the settlement boundaries of Michaelchurch Escley and

Vowchurch, and in Lower Maes-coed.

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

The Plan is based on:

a) a series of informal consultations we have had with local

people at public meetings which everyone had an opportunity

to attend;

b) a questionnaire in 2014 which everyone had an opportunity

to complete;

c) formal consultation in 2016 in which everyone with an interest

in the ve parish areas, whether they live here or not, had an

opportunity of taking part.

At all stages of the process of preparing the plan we have held

public meetings and sought local involvement in our work. We have

advertised meetings in local parish newsletters, put up posters and

distributed information leaets. Where we were aware of people,

such as landowners, who have an interest in our parishes but did

not live locally, we have written to them individually.

The results of the various informal consultations, the survey of

residents and interested parties and the formal consultation in

2016 are as follows. The percentages quoted relate to the survey

carried out in 2014.

1 Settlement Boundaries

Michaelchurch Escley and Vowchurch

The expectation of the Core Strategy is that the proportionate

growth in housing in Michaelchurch Escley and Vowchurch will

take place within a dened settlement boundary. A settlement

boundary “is a line that is drawn on a plan around a village, which

reects its built form.”

Such a boundary is used as “a policy tool

reecting the area where a set of plan policies are to be applied” as

in the case of the policies set out in this neighbourhood plan. Such

boundaries need not reect current land use or land ownership.

When we consulted on settlement boundaries for Michaelchurch

Escley and Vowchurch, we used as our starting point those

boundaries which have been applied over many years for the

two settlements. In both settlements this includes land which

contains dwellings and other buildings, the churches and a

The Basis for the

Policies in this Plan

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

limited amount of land which is currently

used for agricultural purposes. Overall

these boundaries reected the shape of

the built form of areas which themselves

reect the historic pattern of incremental

development of the two small settlements.

In determining boundaries we have made

use of the criteria set out in the Guidance

Note provided by Herefordshire Council

quoted above. The key criteria for us is that

the boundaries should broadly trace, even

if they extend, the edge of the built up

area. What limited new developments have

taken place within the two settlements

in the last two decades have taken place

within the built up areas.

At the same time, we have noted the

requirement in the guidance that “settlement

boundaries should be drawn to facilitate an

appropriate level of proportionate growth

within the plan period”. This implies some

easing of the boundary line and certainly

would not be achieved by reducing the land

area covered by the settlement boundaries.

It is also relevant to bear in mind the policy

in Herefordshire’s Core Strategy which is

that settlement developments should take

place “within or adjacent to the main built

up areas”. Any boundary line should be

considered as merely an indication of where

developments might take place, certainly

not as a strict limit of developments around

the margins of the area.

The great majority of responses to the

questionnaire in 2014 and all subsequent

consultations have confirmed that we

should adopt settlement boundaries

which broadly dened the current built

up area, including at least some of the

agricultural land which has been included

in the historic boundaries. But at the same

time, there was no strong support for

Vowchurch

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

signicantly extending the amount of land

to be included within the boundaries.

Some comment was made on the proposed

settlement boundaries during the formal

consultation in 2016, on the basis that a

settlement boundary should not include

specic parcels of land which are currently

used for agricultural purposes, some of which,

it is claimed, was previously part of a garden.

The Parish Council discussed the outcome

of the various consultations, including the

more recent comments, in the light of the

advice and guidance we have received

from Herefordshire Council. The Parish

Council took the view that it is wrong to

suggest that agricultural land cannot ever

be developed for housing. It is strongly of

the view that there should be no reduction

of the amount of land within the proposed

boundaries by excluding land that is

currently used for agriculture. We have

therefore conrmed the boundaries for

Michaelchurch and adjusted the boundary

in Vowchurch to include farm buildings

and other land that are properly part of the

settlement and exclude only a small area of

land with no coherent vehicular access. The

result is an increase in the area covered by

the settlement boundary for Vowchurch.

The boundaries are shown on the maps on

these pages.

Lower Maes-coed

We do not consider that it is necessary

to define a settlement boundary for

Lower Maes-coed. The designation of

a settlement boundary in this location

would not reect the historic development

pattern of Lower Maes-coed. This is an

area where single dwellings and scattered

farmsteads have been built over a number

of years. There is no form or pattern to

Michaelchurch Escley

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

the settlement and the introduction of a settlement boundary

would lead to an uncharacteristic urbanised settlement form.

Therefore future planning applications in this location should be

assessed using the policies which are set out in this neighbourhood

plan. These policies will help dene those areas to be classied as

Lower Maes-coed for the purposed of future growth as opposed

to areas which are more appropriately considered as part of the

wider open countryside.

2 Housing and businesses

The results shown here reect the survey carried out in 2014.

Kind of housing – a large majority of people support the building

of modest sized houses, either 1 to 2 bedroom or 2 to 3 bedrooms

in both villages.

This is broadly consistent with the local housing market assessment

carried out on behalf of Herefordshire Council in 2013. The report

on this work concludes that about two thirds of the market housing

required in the Golden Valley should be three bedroom, with most

of the rest being smaller homes of one or two bedrooms.

Type of homes – For Michaelchurch Escley 67% of people thought

that new houses should be privately owned. At the same time

56% supported building affordable homes and 56% supported

homes which are provided on the basis that they are partly rented

and partly owned. For Vowchurch 65% thought that new houses

should be privately owned. 47% supported building affordable

homes and 59% supported homes that are partly rented and

partly owned.

The local housing market assessment carried out on behalf of

Herefordshire Council in 2013, referred to above, shows that in

the Golden Valley over 75% of homes were privately owned,

whilst over 10% were privately rented. Both these gures were

higher than the average in the county, perhaps reecting lower

than average levels of social housing renting or ownership. In

addition 70% of homes were detached, higher than the average

in the county, but reecting the historic pattern of development

that has already been referred to. There is also a high level of

second home ownership, at 3% higher than the county average.

Style of homes – 94% of people supported building homes in

keeping with existing buildings.

External lighting – 85% of respondents supported having clear

limitations on the amount of external lighting in future developments.

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

Converting redundant buildings – 87% of people supported

converting such buildings for local families to live in. 69%

supported the further use of such buildings for workshops and

small businesses, whilst 48% supported their use for holiday lets.

Small businesses – a majority of respondents supported the

development of small businesses (73% workshops, 77% farms and

55% small manufacturing)

This has to be seen against a background in which over 30% of

people in the Golden Valley work at home, whilst more have to

travel over 10 miles to get to work. Employment in the Golden

Valley tends to be concentrated in the construction, health and

social work, farming, information and communications and

property sectors.

Tourism – less than half of those responding (43%) supported the

inclusion of tourist facilities in the neighbourhood plan (57% either

opposed it or had no opinion). 56% of people thought that there

should be bed and breakfast accommodation and 46% short term

holiday lets in any new tourist facilities.

Identification of suitable sites for

future developments

We have considered whether there would be benet in identifying

specic sites for future developments. However, sites which might

be suitable for development within the settlements are relatively

small and dispersed. This is a rather different situation from other

areas of Herefordshire where it is possible to designate reasonably

large and clearly demarcated areas of land (frequently agricultural

land) for future development. Our preference therefore is to

identify policies which provide criteria against which planning

applications, whether within the village centres, in the small area of

Lower Maes-coed or in open countryside, should be assessed.

We are confident that there are small sites in the two village

centres and in Lower Maes-coed which would be appropriate for

future development and which are not constrained by being in the

grounds of listed buildings.

NOTES

Herefordshire Council Guidance Note 20 – Guide to settlement boundaries

(See www.herefordshire.gov.uk)

Herefordshire Local Housing Market Assessment – 2012 Update, November 2013

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

Policies for assessing planning applications

The outcome of all our consultations is therefore quite consistent with the policies and expectations of the Core Strategy.

In particular sensitive and proportionate development within the two identied settlements and Lower Maes-coed, as

well as continuing developments in the wider area, would be welcomed by local residents. There is a strong wish to see

some development locally which meets housing needs, in particular those of families with children.

There is strong local support for new commercial developments. Proposals for such developments will therefore

be encouraged whether involving the conversion of existing buildings or developments on existing businesses

such as farms.

At the same time we have to recognise that our parishes lie within a broader area and will continue to depend on

services and facilities in other parishes, in nearby towns and in Hereford itself. These services and facilities will in

turn derive support from housing developments in our settlements and the wider parishes.

It is on this basis that we have developed a set of policies for use in assessing future planning applications.

These are set out below.

POLICY

Protecting and enhancing the local environment

To protect and enhance the local environment development proposals will have to demonstrate the following:

• that their design and scale reect the character of the local environment and existing buildings in a way which

preserves or enhances the natural and historic beauty of the local area;

• that they protect and enhance wildlife sites, listed buildings and ancient monuments, and assets such as stone

walls, wildlife sites and commons;

• that they protect and maintain native trees, hedgerows and other important vegetation and do not have an

adverse impact on local brooks, streams and rivers.

Justication – This reects the vision set out above for preserving the beauty of the local environment and the

three objectives we have for achieving that vision.

Policies for protecting and enhancing the local environment

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

POLICY

Location of future developments in Michaelchurch Escley, Vowchurch and Lower Maes-coed

New housing proposals will be permitted within the dened settlement boundaries for Michaelchurch Escley and

Vowchurch as shown on pages 6 and 7 of the Plan and on the Policies Maps and within the small settlement area of

Lower Maes-coed. Proposals will be subject to the following criteria:

• they should broadly be for no more than 1 to 3 homes on each site, reecting the historic building pattern of

small developments;

• they should be on land around or between existing buildings;

• where possible they could be for the conversion of existing buildings such as stables, barns and workshops;

• schemes should blend in sensitively with the historic pattern of houses;

• they are protected from the risk of ooding and will not result in increased ooding to elsewhere.

Justication – This policy reects the priority given in Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy for development in

rural areas to take place within dened geographical areas. We have consulted on the settlement boundaries

and those described here reect the views of local people. It further reects the wish to see the development of

suitable market homes which are proportionate to the size of the existing community.

No ooding issues arise in relation to Michaelchurch Escley and Lower Maes-coed, whilst in Vowchurch the River

Dore to the west of the settlement boundary does not pose a ood threat to the area within the boundary.

Policies for assessing planning applications for new homes

POLICY

Developments in open countryside

This neighbourhood plan supports the policy set out in Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy, that new housing

development in the countryside should only be permitted when it satises one or more of the following:

• it is essential housing for agricultural, forestry or other local worker to live permanently at or near their place of work;

• it accompanies and is necessary for the establishment of a new, or growth of an existing rural business;

• it replaces an existing dwelling and is no larger than the dwelling to be replaced;

• it re-uses an existing rural building;

• is rural exception housing in accordance with Policy H2 (that is, it is a small affordable housing scheme to meet

a clear local need);

• is of exceptional quality and innovative design;

• is a site providing for the needs of travellers.

Justication – This policy is restated here from Herefordshire Council’s Core Strategy because it reects our overall

objective which is to preserve the natural beauty of the local environment. This objective also underpins national

and Herefordshire strategies (Core Strategy policy RA3) to restrict new housing in open countryside, even though

new national planning guidelines make possible the development of redundant barns which meet dened criteria.

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

POLICY

Nature and scale of new homes

New housing proposals will be permitted for small family homes of two and three bedrooms. The accent should

be on well designed, modest buildings which are affordable, especially for local people.

Justication – The views of local people about the kind of homes that are needed is completely consistent with

the ndings of the study carried out for Herefordshire Council referred to above. That is, primarily homes with up

to 3 bedrooms, as well as some smaller homes being required.

POLICY

Housing design criteria

Housing proposals will be permitted for buildings which reect the existing, particularly historic, local building styles

in the use of materials such as stone, slate, wood and brick. Proposals will be subject to the following criteria:

• building proposals should be in keeping with the existing nature of the settlements, providing gardens, with

tree screening and blending with the surrounding environment;

• proposals for buildings which offer a high degree of energy efciency will be welcomed as long as they meet

the above criteria.

Justification – This reflects the objective we have to “ensure that any new development is designed to

complement the character of the existing settlements and the wider environment”. Modern suburban bungalows

are not considered suitable for these locations.

POLICY

Affordable housing

Proposals for new homes which are affordable for local people, whether as fully owned, partly owned or rented

will be welcomed. This includes schemes which favour local people either as private owners or renters will also

be encouraged.

POLICY

Amenity

New development must provide a good standard of amenity for future occupants and have an acceptable impact

on the amenity of the occupiers of existing residential properties.

Policies for assessing planning applications for new homes continued...

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011 TO 2031

Policies for other developments

POLICY

Applications for new commercial developments

Proposals for small businesses in the ve parishes will be supported where the rural character of the area is preserved.

In particular this means that proposals should be of a scale appropriate to their location and setting, suitably accessed

by a choice of transport modes and be of a form that protects and respects the environmental and landscape quality

of the area in which they are located.

Justication – Proposals for small businesses in the area will be supported in line with the policies in Herefordshire’s

Core Strategy for diversifying the rural economy (RA6). It has to be acknowledged that there is limited scope for

commercial developments in the two villages and Lower Maes-coed, but some development is possible through the

conversion of existing buildings within or close to the settlement boundaries, as well as in the wider parish areas where

redundant farm buildings might lend themselves to such developments. It has to be said that any such developments

would be made more likely by the implementation of stable and fast broadband connections in the area.

POLICY

Applications for new tourist developments

The development of new tourism facilities will be supported where they are appropriately located and respect the

environmental, landscape and historic character of the area in which they are located.

Justication – The natural beauty of the area makes it attractive for visitors as a place to enjoy for its own sake

and as a base for exploring the Brecon Beacons National Park and attractive local towns such as Hay on Wye.

There is already a range of bed and breakfast accommodation and short term holiday lets, including a caravan

site at Poston, in Vowchurch. There was qualied support in our survey for new tourist facilities in the area.

This would be consistent with the policies in Herefordshire’s Core Strategy which “recognises the contribution

that tourism makes to the Herefordshire economy and seeks to ensure that this continues and is enhanced

through new developments which are of an appropriate scale, type and location.”

POLICY

External lighting

Any planning proposals that are for or include external lighting will have to demonstrate that there has been a

proper assessment of the need for such lighting. In particular it should be demonstrated that care has been taken to

design appropriate lighting which minimises the impact on the occupiers of nearby properties and minimises light

pollution and energy consumption.

VOWCHURCH AND DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL

Vowchurch and District Group Parish Council

www.5escleydore.org.uk/pages/council.html